Letter to the Editor: Mount's mother speaks out

I understand that there is question as to why the rallies for my son, Darryl Mount, keep taking place. I see City Council member Christian Mathiesen, the Public Safety commissioner, is having difficulty understanding. So I am going to make it clear for him and for the community to understand our perspective.

We as a family understand how hard of a job the police have each and every day. However, they choose their career as a police officer and take an oath to protect and serve.

I also understand that unveiling of events the morning of Aug. 31 gives the police department and Mathiesen some of their own peace. However, it has given Darryl’s family absolutely none as from the beginning and I think it is safe to say the community deserves more than what was given from the start.

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As a parent, I never received one phone call from the police department that my son was even injured. The incident took place at 3 a.m. and my first call was after 5 a.m. from the very girl they say Darryl assaulted, crying and clearly upset that she had just left the police station looking for her boyfriend and they told her he was at Albany Med because “he tripped and fell and hit his head.”

When I called the police station I then received a completely different version of what happened, and the very next day, yet another version was released.

Being a mother and a nurse, I knew immediately that something was very, very wrong.

I have been keeping my documentation, logged phone calls which I initiate, and kept photos along with every press article ever released. It is astounding and very alarming the way that this case was handled from the very start – lack of professionalism and, more importantly, compassion.

So yes, there have been inconsistencies from the very start and continue to be so. For example, an article on July 20, 2014, had Mathiesen saying “no one knows whether Darryl Mount fell, slipped or jumped from the scaffolding.”

My question is, how can you “ speculate” that Darryl’s injuries were scaffolding? You said he was running from police when they “lost sight of him” and found him unconscious in an alleyway. Again, speculation.

How in such a very short pursuit did anybody lose sight of him at all? Anybody who lives in Saratoga and knows exactly where it started and where it ended I am sure has an eyebrow raised.

Another detail reported almost one year later was that Darryl was transported directly to Albany Med. But from the information I have, that is not accurate.

As the community looks at the whole picture, I am quite sure that they are seeing as much gray as I am.

Mathiesen has no law enforcement background. Why should his perspective or opinion hold any more value than that of myself and the community?

I would like to close by addressing Mathiesen’s statement of “once Darryl passed away, I was finally able to respond, as I did on June 20, 2014.” You stated that as if it was a relief to you and in fact the things you released showed nothing of significance yet again. But I am not surprised.

I am more than happy to say that nobody is forgetting and nothing is final from this end. Darryl may physically be gone but he surely is still here in spirit and will never ever be forgotten.

We, as his family, would like to thank the community, family, friends and our supporters who have never stopped believing in us and believing in Darryl. I am sure he is shining down on all of us.

We also would like to acknowledge the fact that Darryl made mistakes in his short 22 years of life, but the night of Aug. 31 he had no chance to ever rectify those mistakes and live his life. The night of Aug. 31 was never a police response, it was a military response that resulted in taking the life of my son.

We will continue to execute our constitutional rights of freedom of speech and demonstration.

This fight will continue until justice is rightly served. No justice, no peace.